A Michigan collector paid just $30 for a painting at an estate sale, not knowing that the work had been out of public view for about 75 years.
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work → pay → years
The 1951 painting by American Surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie has since been authenticated and is now estimated to sell for $150,000 to $250,000 at Freeman’s New York on October 1.
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painting → authenticate → October
The painting, Alderman Merriam’s Shells, was found earlier this year at an estate sale in Michigan, according to Art Net News.
uncertain
painting → find → News
The collector, who usually searches for vinyl records and mid-century furniture, spotted the work in a dark hallway leading towards a garage.
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who → search → garage
A signature reading “abercrombie ’51” caught the collector’s attention, leading to the $30 purchase.
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signature → read → purchase
The discovery became more significant when the new owner visited the Milwaukee Art Museum’s exhibition Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery.
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World → become → exhibition
While looking through the exhibition catalogue, the collector found an archival photograph of the same painting.
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collector → look → painting
The photograph had appeared in a September 1952 Chicago Tribune review of Abercrombie’s exhibition at Newman Brown Gallery in Chicago.
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photograph → appear → Chicago
The owner then contacted Dr Susan Weininger, a leading scholar of Abercrombie, who authenticated the painting.
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who → contact → painting
The work was identified as Alderman Merriam’s Shells, painted in 1951.
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work → identify → 1951
Painting remained hidden for 75 years
The painting had a documented history before it disappeared from public view.
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it → remain → view
Abercrombie gave it to Dr John Reynolds of Kalamazoo, Michigan, in early 1952 in exchange for medical services.
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Abercrombie → give → services
It remained with Reynolds for the rest of his life and later passed through his estate and family.
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It → remain → estate
Before disappearing from public view, the painting had been exhibited several times.
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painting → disappear → view
Freeman’s said it appeared in six solo exhibitions during 1952 and 1953.
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it → say → 1952
These included exhibitions at Newman Brown Gallery and Steven Gross Studios in Chicago, Edwin Hewitt Gallery in New York, Bresler Gallery in Milwaukee, Contemporary Arts Gallery in Evanston and Illinois Design Center in Chicago.
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These → include → Chicago
The painting shows nine seashells arranged across a slate-grey surface.
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painting → show → surface
Another conical shell hangs from a thread against a black wall, appearing to float above the other shells.
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shell → hang → shells
The work is unusual in Abercrombie’s career because it was painted directly from real objects.
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it → paint → objects
Freeman’s said the shells belonged to Robert Merriam, an alderman from Chicago’s Hyde Park neighbourhood, where Abercrombie lived and worked.
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Abercrombie → say → neighbourhood
Shells gave clue to Abercrombie’s work
The painting also provides information about Abercrombie’s use of shells as a recurring subject.
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painting → give → subject
A small central nautilus shell in the painting has a hole and a crack.
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shell → have → hole
Freeman’s said these details are echoed in some of her later solitary shell paintings, which had long been thought to have been invented.
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which → say → paintings
The rediscovered painting suggests that at least some of those details came from direct observation and memory.
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some → rediscover → observation
Shells had a particular symbolic importance in Abercrombie’s work.
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Shells → have → work
Freeman’s described them as representing protection and confinement, while their spiral shape could also serve as a talisman of friendship that she gave to people close to her.
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she → describe → her
Shells had a particular symbolic importance in Abercrombie’s work
Zack Wirsum, senior vice president and head of the Post-War and Contemporary Art department at Freeman’s, described the discovery as an important moment for the auction house.
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Wirsum → have → house
“Little did I know that one of those 'once in a while's would occur less than a month later,” Wirsum said.
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Wirsum → know → while
He was referring to a comment he had made to visitors on an exhibition tour, when he said Abercrombie paintings still occasionally surfaced at estate sales.
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paintings → refer → sales
“We could not be more thrilled to now steward this magnificent rediscovery to the next chapter of its fascinating story,” he said.
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he → steward → story
From estate sale to auction
The collector’s discovery also came at a time when interest in Abercrombie’s work has increased.
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interest → come → work
Artnet News reported that the artist’s reputation and market have grown following gallery and museum exhibitions since 2018.
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reputation → report → 2018
Abercrombie was a Chicago-based artist who did not have gallery representation and instead sold her works directly to collectors or gave them to friends.
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who → base → friends
That history helps explain why some of her paintings can still emerge from private collections, according to Artnet News.
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some → help → News
Her work was largely overlooked for decades.
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work → overlook → decades
In 2018, Karma gallery exhibited Abercrombie, describing her as an important but under-considered figure in mid-century American Surrealism.
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gallery → exhibit → Surrealism
Museum exhibitions followed, bringing renewed attention to her paintings.
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exhibitions → follow → paintings
Artnet’s Price Database shows the change in her art market.
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Database → show → market
In the year before the 2018 Karma exhibition, Abercrombie’s paintings generated less than $75,000 in total sales, with prices generally around $10,000.
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paintings → generate → 10,000
Since then, 80 of her paintings have sold for more than $100,000, while 83% of works exceeded their high estimates.
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% → sell → estimates
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
